Page 27 of Babe

“Your brothers love you,” Gunner said softly, sitting up and wrapping his arms around me. He rested his chin on my shoulder. I gripped his forearms, sniffling. “They love you, even if it’s hard for some of them to show it.”

I nodded. “I know,” I croaked. “But Jax is always… detached. I never thought…”

Gunner sighed. “I think, out of all your brothers, Ace, he cares the most in his own way.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek, his beard scraping along my skin. “How does a shower sound? Then we’ll eat breakfast, and you can help me tend to the greenhouse.”

I nodded, a small smile tilting my lips as I rested my head back against his shoulder. “I’d like that, Papa.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ace

Leaning up on my knees, I reached across the coffee table and grabbed the puzzle piece I needed, piecing it together with the corner piece. This was the second puzzle I’d started working on in the past three days, and being able to zone out and just piece together puzzle pieces settled something in my mind when Gunner couldn’t be attached to me at the hip.

He’d had to go into town two days ago to grab some things Blakely needed to be able to continue cooking food for the four of us, and he’d also grabbed things he needed for his plants while he was out. I’d dug around his house, antsy for something to do, my mind running a million miles a minute, and then, I’d come across a few dust-covered boxes of puzzles. They’d been opened, and some of the pieces were still stuck together from Gunner previously putting them together.

When Gunner had come home from the store and found me sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, the puzzle pieces laid out in front of me, he just smiled, softly kissed me, and left me to my vices so he could tend to the greenhouse.

He spent so much time out there. I tried it once a few days ago, but getting my hands dirty just wasn’t my thing. And it was so hot inside that greenhouse. I couldn’t deal. I was not made for outdoorsy shit, even if Gunner was. He could one hundred percent be the “man” in our relationship.

A shadow fell over me, and I looked up, frowning at Jax. He jerked his chin toward the front door just as Gunner came in through the back door, heading for the kitchen.

“What?” I muttered, looking back at my puzzle.

“Come on a walk with me,” Jax said. It was more of a command than a suggestion. Immediately, my hackles rose. “You haven’t been outside in three straight days, kid.”

“Fuck off. I don’t want to go on a damn walk. I’m fine right here.”

“Ace baby,” Gunner called in that Papa voice that always made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, even if he was about to make me do something I didn’t want to do, “you need some fresh air, sweet boy. Go with Jax.”

Turning my head, I pouted at him, hoping it would get him to change his mind. But nope. Because Gunner was a good Papa who made me do things that were good for me even if I didn’t want to do them.

“That look isn’t going to work, baby. Go on a walk with Jax.”

I huffed and stood. “I don’t even have winter clothes.” And it was cold outside.

“Oh! I have a jacket and gloves you can use,” Blakely said, jumping up from the recliner and moving to her bag, which was stuffed in the corner of the living room so it’d be out of the way.

“And you have the boots I picked up for you in town the other day,” Gunner gently reminded me. He’d gotten them for me in the hopes I’d help him in the greenhouse more, though he’d never pressured me to go out with him once he realized how much I really hated playing in the dirt. I’d spent damn near fifteen minutes trying to clean the dirt from under my fingernails. “I’ve got a counter-argument for every fight you put up, sweet boy.”

I huffed again before grabbing the jacket and gloves Blakely held out to me before marching upstairs to get my boots. Gunner appeared just as I was sitting on the bed to tug them on. I frowned up at him.

“I don’t want to go outside, Papa.”

He crouched in front of me and gripped my thighs, smiling up at me. My irritation immediately bled away, and I grasped his cheeks, raking my fingernails through his blonde beard, just needing to touch him. “The walk will be good for you. When you get back, Blakely and I will have stew on the stove, you and I can get a hot shower together, and then, you can have all the cuddles you want, okay?”

I nodded and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his lips. “Okay.”

He squeezed my thighs before focusing on my boots, helping me put them on and tie them up. Then, standing to his full height, he held out a hand to help me up. I took it and wiggled my toes in my new boots, a small smile pulling at my lips. We walked downstairs, and Gunner gripped my arm, pulling me to a halt. When I turned to face him, he pulled his beanie off his head and pulled it down on mine.

Reaching up, I touched it, my insides all fuzzy knowing I was wearing something of his. I leaned up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He grinned at me. “Thank you, Papa.”

“I’ll see you in a bit,” he assured me, gently nudging me in Jax’s direction.

Jax opened the door, and I slipped by him, being careful not to touch him. He stepped out behind me, shutting the door before moving around me and heading down the porch. Sighing, I shoved my fingers into Blakely’s gloves, then followed Jax down the porch and into the woods. Blowing out a breath, I watched it fog in the air before slowly dissipating.

“You know I’m not much of one for talking,” Jax began after we’d walked in silence for a few minutes, “but I just…” He paused and turned to look at me, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. “Honestly, kid, we’re both shit at communicating.”

I snorted. “Who the fuck can blame us?” I asked him in all seriousness. After all we’d been through, it was no surprise communication wasn’t something we were good at.

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